● MONDAY, May 15

Farmers affected by frost invited to apply for subsides

The Agency for Intervention and Payments in Agriculture has announced that applications started to be accepted from agricultural producers that were affected by last year’s spring frosts. The local public authorities of the affected districts should set up special commissions responsible for the examination of applications and should determine the size of financial support. The deadline for applications is ten working days of the creation of special commissions. Last spring, the low temperatures below the biological resistance of some of the agricultural crops caused damage in the districts of Briceni, Donduseni, Drochia, Glodeni, Ocnita, Rascani and partially Soroca, mainly to fruit trees.

Sic! Is Moldova flooded with agrifood products from Europe?

Before his first visit to Brussels as President, Igor Dodon published on his blog a rather pessimistic article about the Association Agreement with the EU. All the arguments enumerated in this article put the Association Agreement in a negative light. Then the President said there is a tendency showing that imports from the European countries will grow. The authors of a new Sic! article, which is accompanied by an animation clip, examined the situation to see if Moldova is indeed flooded with agrifood products from Europe. The authors consider it is important to remember that imports from the EU fell by about 15% in 2016 from 2014, when the Association Agreement with the EU took effect provisionally. This fact refutes the prophecies of Moldovan Euro-skeptics about the larger flow of European goods allegedly caused by the accord. “Owing to the frost and snows of this spring, Moldova could experience a shortage of particular types of fruit and vegetables. That’s why imports from Europe will be necessary or even vital for Moldovan consumers, even if these later could become again the target of the Moldovan Euro-skeptics,” says the article.

● TUESDAY, May 16

NBM: Leu is appreciating amid surplus of foreign currency

The recent upward trends in the exchange rate of the national currency against the main foreign currencies is due to the surplus of currency on the market, the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) says in a press release. On May 15, 2017, the exchange rate of the Moldovan leu against the U.S. dollar and euro was by about 6.54% and, respectively, 2.78% higher than at the start of the year. The recent appreciation of the national currency was fueled by the surplus of currency on the market as the supply of currency on the part of the population and exporters was higher than the demand and necessities of importers. Given the excessive liquidity in the banking sector and the high level of foreign exchange reserves, the monetary policy of the NBM does not envision for now the integral purchase of the excess of currency on the domestic market. The National Bank will continue to concentrate on its fundamental objective – to set internal prices according to its inflation targeting strategy. At the same time, the central bank permanently monitors the developments on the internal currency market and intervenes when necessary so as not to allow an excessive volatility of the exchange rate and a speculative evolution of this, it is said in the NBM’s press release.

Lower fuel price ceilings for next two weeks

The National Agency for Energy Regulation has announced the price ceilings for fuels for the period between May 17 and May 30. Thus, a liter of gasoline will cost by 0.82 lei less, while a liter of diesel fuel will be by 0.61 lei cheaper. The price ceiling per liter of gasoline coded 95 was set at 16.90 lei, as opposed to 17.72 lei until now. The diesel fuel will cost at most 14.40 lei, as opposed to 15.01 lei during the past two weeks.

● WEDNESDAY, May 17

ODIMM celebrates ten years of activity

Entrepreneurs with growth potential and the young people will be the target of the future programs of the Organization for the Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (ODIMM), the organization’s director Iulia Iabanji said in a news conference held on the occasion of the celebration of ten years of activity by ODIMM. “A new program intended for the people will be launched possibly next year. The young generation is the future of the country and we try to create more instruments for motivating the young people to start a business, remain in the country and become involved in the country’s economic circuit,” stated Iulia Iabanji. ODIMM will support not only startups, but also enterprises with growth potential that can contribute to the development of the national economy. For next year, the Government prepared such a program. ODIMM was founded by the Ministry of Economy on May 17, 2007 as a nonprofit public self-managed organization. More than 2,500 enterprises received financing during ten years of work. There were created 11 business incubators and over 3,700 jobs. Among the most important programs managed by ODIMM are the Program to Attract Remittances to the Economy - PARE 1+1, the Youth Economic Empowerment Program and the Loan Guarantee Fund.

Implementation of internal tourism development strategy enters new stage

The Government on May 17 approved the continuation of the international tourism development strategy of December 2013 and a plan of action in this regard for 2017-2020. The 36 activities envisioned for 2014-2016 were 80% carried out. Some of the measures, like the working out of the trader’s guide and opening of agrifood centers at national level and in regions, remained on paper only because of lack of funds. According to the Ministry of Economy, in 2017- 2018 there will be completed the activities planned for the first stage (2014-2016) and will be launched new measures that refer to the sale of products and services related to trade, such as repair, rent, public food and tourism. At the last stage, in 2019-2020, emphasis will be placed on the improvement of trade infrastructure and modernization of the goods distribution system, including the launch of new distribution models.

How National Agriculture Development Fund will be used

The Government approved the regulations concerning the conditions, order and procedure for offering money from the National Agriculture and Rural Development Fund that totals 900million lei in 2017. Of this sum, 231 million lei comes from the ENPARD Moldova Program – Support for Agriculture and Rural Development. The regulations are valid for five years (2017-2021) and envision the implementation of a new system for monitoring the reasonability of investment costs, allocation of increased subsidies to young people and women who work as farmers and purchase of goods from national producers. The subsidies will not exceed 50% of the investment costs. The applications for subsidies will be examined by the Agency for Intervention and Payments in Agriculture. Within five days of the approval of the decision to provide subsidies, the Agency will issue payment orders to the State Treasury. The payments will be made according to the order in which these will come to the Treasury.

● THURSDAY, May 18

Winemakers urged to access unused grants within CEP II

Winemakers are invited to access the unused grants offered within the World-Bank funded Second Competitiveness Enhancement Project (CEP II). The opportunities of financing the wine industry were discussed in a roundtable meeting. According to the director of the PAC II Implementation Unit Aureliu Casian, the grants are non-reimbursable and are an opportunity for winemakers to strengthen the production and export capacities. Among the eligible proposals are those that refer to the services of a technologist, designing of packing and labels of products, creation of websites.
The set of documents for accessing financing can be consulted on the website www.uipac.md. Of the over 120 beneficiaries of CEP II, only 15 are from the winemaking and winegrowing sector. The grant covers almost 50% of the cost of the beneficiary’s project, but not more than 200,000 lei. CEP II has a budget of US$45 million and is implemented in 2015-2019.

●SATURDAY, May 20

Procedures for regulating construction works more friendly to companies

The time spent and financial costs incurred by private business entities when applying for permits and certificates for carrying out construction works will be decreased following amendments and supplements made by the Government to its previous decisions. Deputy Minister of Economy Vitalie Iurcu said the procedure for authoring finished buildings will be simplified. The works acceptance commissions will no longer include representatives of public authorities if the constructions are performed with private sector funds. Such a decision will not affect the quality of private constructions. The state, through the agency of the State Construction Inspectorate, can plan its inspection activities at each construction stage apart. By the development strategy “Moldova 2020”, the Government pledged to reduce the period of time needed to get a construction authorization and all the required certificates and permits to 100 days. At the end of 2015, the authorization was obtained in 180-200 days.